Evidenced Interventions Supporting the Psychological Wellbeing of Disaster Workers: A Rapid Literature Review

This rapid literature review was conducted to better understand the evidence base for interventions aimed at improving psychological well-being in disaster response workers. Three databases were searched: MEDLINE, APA PsycArticles, and Embase. Grey literature reviewed included results of a Google Scholar search and organisation-recommended reports and articles. Of the 959 screened records, 25 studies were included, 13 of which evidenced the benefit of the studied intervention, and two included screening tools to identify at-risk workers. The results showed that evidence-based interventions exist to support disaster response workers to varying degrees in terms of perceived stress, anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress symptoms, burnout, sleep quality, somatic symptoms, irrational performance beliefs, and emotional and social well-being. Identified interventions featured neurofeedback, psychoeducation, mindfulness, reflective practice, and adjustments to cognitions or behaviours. Interventions varied in delivery (online with pre-recorded content, asynchronous, and guided learning), context (delivered to groups, individuals, and in work or private settings), and facilitator (psychologists, mental health practitioners, and medical doctors). Several interventions improved aspects of psychological well-being in disaster response workers; however, most findings were produced by quasi- or non-experimental designs, suggesting further research is required to clearly ascertain their benefits.